Urgent call from Gaza civil society: act now!

Civil society organisations in Gaza have
made a call to the international community asking them to,
"Join the growing international boycott, divestment and
sanction campaign to hold this rogue state to account that
is proving once again to be so violent and yet so
unchallenged. Join the growing critical mass around the
world with a commitment to the day when Palestinians do not
have to grow up amidst this relentless murder and
destruction by the Israeli regime."

Please continue to
organise and join the protests, and share the below
statement with everyone you know. The international
community must, "act now, before it is too
late!"

We,
Palestinians trapped inside the bloodied and besieged Gaza
Strip, call on conscientious people all over the world, to
act, protest, and intensify the boycotts, divestments and
sanctions against Israel until it ends this murderous attack
on our people and is held to account.

With the world
turning their backs on us once again, for the last four days
we have in Gaza been left to face massacre after massacre.
As you read these words over 120 Palestinians are dead now,
including 25 children. Over 1000 have been injured including
countless horrifying injuries that will limit lives forever
– more than two thirds of the injured are women and
children. We know for a fact that many more will not make it
through the next day. Which of us will be next, as we lie
awake from the sound of the carnage in our beds tonight?
Will we be the next photo left in an unrecognizable state
from Israel’s state of the art flesh tearing, limb
stripping machinery of destruction?

We call for a final
end to the crimes and oppression against us. We call
for:• Arms embargos on Israel, sanctions that would
cut off the supply of weapons and military aid from Europe and the United States on which
Israel depends to commit such war crimes;• Suspension
of all free trade and bilateral agreements with Israel such
as the EU-Israel Association agreement;
• Boycott, divestment and sanctions, as
called for by the overwhelming majority of Palestinian Civil
Society in 2005

Without pressure and isolation, the
Israeli regime has proven time and time again that it will
continue such massacres as we see around us now, and
continue the decades of systematic ethnic cleansing,
military occupation and apartheid policies.

We are writing
this on Saturday night, again paralyzed in our homes as the
bombs fall on us in Gaza. Who knows when the current attacks
will end? For anyone over seven years old, permanently
etched on our minds are the rivers of blood that ran through
the Gaza streets when for over 3 weeks in 2009 over 1400
Palestinians were killed including over 330 children. White
phosphorous and other chemical weapons were used in civilian
areas and contaminating our land with a rise in cancers as a
result. More recently 180 more were killed in the week-long
attacks in late November 2012.

This time what? 200, 500,
5000? We ask: how many of our lives are dispensable enough
until the world takes action? How much of our blood is
sufficient? Before the Israeli bombings, a member of the
Israeli Knesset Ayelet Shaked of the far-right Jewish Home
party called for genocide of the Palestinian people. “They
should go, as should the physical homes in which they raised
the snakes.” she said. “Otherwise, more little snakes
will be raised there.” Right now nothing is beyond the
murderous nature of the Israeli State, for we, a population
that is mostly children, are all mere snakes to them.

As
said Omar Ghraib in Gaza, “It was heart shattering to see the
pictures of little boys and girls viciously killed. Also
how an elderly woman was killed while she was having her
iftar at Maghreb prayer by bombing her house. She
died holding the spoon in her hand, an image that will need
a lot of time to leave my head.”

Entire houses are being
targeted and entire families are being murdered. Early
Thursday morning the entire Al-Hajj family was wiped out –
the father Mahmoud, mother Bassema and five children. No
warning, a family targeted and removed from life. Thursday night, the same again, no warning,
5 more dead including four from the Ghannam family, a
woman and a seven year old child amongst them.

On Tuesday
morning the Kaware family did get a phone call telling them
their 3 storey house would be bombed. The family began to
leave when a water tank was struck, but then returned with
members of the community, who all came to the house to stand
with them, people from all over the neighbourhood. The
Israeli jets bombed the building with a roof full of people,
knowing full well it was full of civilians. 7 people died immediately including 5
children under 13 years old. 25 more were injured, and 8
year old Seraj Abed al-Aal, succumbed to his injuries later
that evening. Perhaps the family was trying to appeal to
the Israeli regime’s humanity, surely they wouldn’t bomb
the roof full of people. But as we watch families being torn
apart around us, it’s clear that Israel’s actions have
nothing to do with humanity.

Other places hit include a
clearly marked media vehicle killing the independent
journalist Hamed Shehab, injuring 8 others, a hit on a Red
Crescent rescue vehicle and attacks on hospitals which caused
evacuations and more injuries.

This latest session of
Israeli barbarity is placed firmly in the context of
Israel’s inhuman seven-year blockade that has cut off the
main life-line of goods and people coming in and out of
Gaza, resulting in the severe medical and food shortages
being reported by all our hospitals and clinics right now.
Cement to rebuild the thousands of homes destroyed by
Israeli attacks had been banned and many injured and ill
people are still not being allowed to travel abroad to
receive urgent medical treatment which has caused the deaths
of over 600 sick patients.

As more news comes in, as
Israeli leaders’ give promises of moving onto a next stage
in brutality, we know there are more horrors yet to come.
For this we call on you to not turn your backs on us. We
call on you to stand up for justice and humanity and
demonstrate and support the courageous men, women and
children rooted in the Gaza Strip facing the darkest of
times ahead. We insist on international
action:• Severance of diplomatic ties with
Israel• Trials for war crimes• Immediate
International protection of the civilians of Gaza

We call
on you to join the growing international boycott, divestment
and sanction campaign to hold this rogue state to account
that is proving once again to be so violent and yet so
unchallenged. Join the growing critical mass around the
world with a commitment to the day when Palestinians do not
have to grow up amidst this relentless murder and
destruction by the Israeli regime. When we can move freely,
when the siege is lifted, the occupation is over and the
world’s Palestinian refugees are finally granted
justice.

International Solidarity Movement On the 20th of March, during Ni’lin’s weekly Friday demonstration, Israeli occupation forces attacked protestors with about 20 rounds of tear gas canisters shot with the ‘venom’ tear gas launcher mounted on a military jeep ... More>>

Yemen stands on the brink of civil war amid deepening political tensions and an uptick in sectarian violence, United Nations Special Adviser Jamal Benomar warned today as he explained that only through dialogue could the country achieve a peaceful political transition. More>>

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) is dispatching emergency life-saving supplies to communities in Tuvalu as part of its efforts to assist communities in the Pacific region that were affected by Tropical Cyclone Pam, with nutrition and hygiene kits arriving today. More>>